Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Headlines - Wednesday March 23

Betty Bowers: Christian Tea Party spokesperson Victoria Jackson's obsessive efforts to stamp out immorality would best start at home. Jesus said that anyone who divorces commits adultery when they remarry. Matthew 19:9.

So, how's that second marriage working out for you, you crazy helium-voiced adulterous harlot?

Tea party activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas is joining the media, just not the "mainstream media" she's described as dedicated to "gotcha journalism" and "lapdogs for the other side."

The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will work as a special correspondent for The Daily Caller, the conservative news website announced Tuesday. "It is a privilege to join such a fast-growing platform with a capable, fun-loving team who are filling a niche that the dinosaur media has underserved," Thomas said in a statement.

What constitutes "fun-loving" to Ginni Thomas? A good-natured sexual harrassing of her co-workers?

OHIO: Anti-Gay Christian Bigots To Hold Conference On How To Not Be Called Anti-Gay Christian Bigots

Gay porn researcher Peter LaBarbera will hold a two day conference where anti-gay Christian haters will discuss how they can get people to stop calling them anti-gay Christian haters.

Said Americans For Truth president Peter LaBarbera: "This is the second of dozens of Truth Academies that we hope to hold across the country. I recently went undercover at a huge homosexual grassroots conference attended by over 2,000 'LGBT' activists – promoting the most radical sexual/gender agenda imaginable (including sadomasochism and multiple-partner relationships). 'Gay' militants are not slowing down in the Culture War, so neither should Christians and conservatives. If the homosexual activists win, religious freedom to defend normalcy will be destroyed." Mission America president Linda Harvey said: "Every Christian should be concerned about the trend toward defamation and discrimination at the hands of intolerant LGBT activists. From the defense of traditional marriage being labeled 'hate,' to the homosexual agenda infiltrating our schools, their goal is to transform our culture. If they are not stopped, the results will be devastating for daily life and religious liberty."

Radiation 1,600 times higher than normal levels has been detected in an area about 20 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, International Atomic Energy Agency officials said Monday.

As Atrios points out, they haven't evacuated anyone beyond 20km and, not to overstate the obvious, the nuclear radiation doesn't just stop at 20km.

To recap: when Bush was president, he repeatedly praised Gaddafi's leadership, going so far as to say that that Gaddafi had renounced terrorism. Bush restored diplomatic relations with Gaddafi, sent Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to Tripoli in September, 2008, and even signed an executive order giving Gaddafi immunity from lawsuits over the Lockerbie bombing.

Read that last part again, then think about Lindsey Graham questioning the current president's masculinity in the context of the 2011 Libyan action.

Joe Barton, best known for apologizing to BP executives last year after the Gulf oil spill and now CLEARLY trying to get his face on a coin one day, is making it his life's mission to do away with government regulation of light bulbs. "This is about more than just energy consumption," Barton told the Fort Worth Star Telegram (and isn't it ALWAYS about more than energy consumption with a guy who apologized to a company that devastated an entire aquatic ecosystem?). "Voters sent us a message in November that it is time for politicians and activists in Washington to stop interfering in their lives and manipulating the free market. The light bulb ban is the perfect symbol of that frustration [Editors Note: We shall overcooooomeeeee]," he continued. "People don't want Congress dictating what light fixtures they can use." AMEN.

This has nothing to do with freedom and everything to do with three things: 1) Who's donated money to Joe Barton; 2) Who can Joe Barton get to donate in the future; and 3) An ongoing GOP effort to deny anything having to do with the environment. It's not entirely clear why the GOP feels the need to pander to the flat-earth crowd (#3), except that of course it reinforces #2.

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Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones does an interesting analysis of how many American cities fall within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, since that's the evacuation zone being recommended by the US government for American citizens living near the Fukushima nuclear plant. It's a lot of good sized cities.

Last week, ThinkProgress documented conservative efforts in twelve states to shift the tax burden onto the middle class even while cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. In three states, conservatives are going even further, proposing massive estate tax cuts for millionaires even as income inequality is at its [worst] since the 1920s ...

Now tell me how voting Republican is good for the middle class? There is no such thing as "trickle down economics". It's called pissing on us and telling us it's raining.

The shocker: Johnny Roberts and Sammy Alito agreed with that. Only Scalia-Plus (Scalia and Thomas) dissented.

Roberts and Alito standing up to protect workers? No wonder there have been earthquakes, wars and nuclear melt-downs!

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All wars kill children, but that never stops them. "Two Israeli military strikes on Gaza have killed eight Palestinians, medical officials say. Two were under 18, while four were members of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, according to the ruling Hamas militant group. Israel apologised for the civilian casualties but said it would defend itself against rocket fire from Gaza, which has increased in recent days. Militants fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Saturday."

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"As the world focuses on Libya and Japan, UN aid agencies are warning that Ivory Coast is rapidly becoming a forgotten humanitarian catastrophe. About 500,000 people have fled violence there - but a UN appeal for funds to help them has met with little response. There has been fighting between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to step down as president, and those of his rival, Alassane Ouattara. The UN recognises Mr Ouattara as the winner of November's presidential poll."

Yesterday, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) signed into law a requirement that women seeking abortions first attend a consultation at anti-choice "pregnancy help centers" to learn how she can "keep and care for her child." The first of its kind, the law also establishes "the nation's longest waiting period — three days — after an initial visit with an abortion provider before the procedure can be done."

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Gadaffi Joe

Joe Biden To Impeach President Who Starts Arab Wars Without Congress

Here's funnyman Joe Biden talking about how he's going to impeach the president for starting some random war against a Muslim nation that isn't doing anything to us … oh wait, he's talking about a previous president. This must be an old appearance on Hardball. We've got 'em all on VHS, every episode going back to 1956 ….

The important thing is that this Libya clusterphuck seems to be as poorly thought out as any Bush Junior imperial misadventure, minus the grand designs and years of wingnut think-tank scheming. But the result is the same: blood on the sand and enrichment of the U.S. defense industry.